Travelport

Infobox Company
company_name = Travelport
company_
company_type = Private
key_people = Jeff Clarke, CEO and president. Travelport
Ken Esterow, president and CEO, GTA
Gordon Wilson, president and CEO, Travelport GDS
Mike Rescoe, executive vice president and CFO, Travelport
Eric Bock, executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance and ethics officer, Travelport
JoAnne Kruse, executive vice president of human resources, Travelport
foundation = flagicon|USA 2001
location = Parsippany, New Jersey
industry = Travel Conglomerate
subsid = Travelport GDS (includes Galileo and Worldspan)
GTA
Travelport UK Rail
Business Intelligence Services
OctopusTravel.com
THOR
Travel Bound
revenue = Approx. US$2.6 billion annually
num_employees = Approx. 6,000
homepage = [http://www.travelport.com/ www.Travelport.com]

Travelport is a travel services information and global distribution services. The company is comprised of Travelport GDS, a global distribution system business that includes Worldspan and Galileo; GTA, a group travel and wholesaler of global travel content; Business Intelligence Services, a data analysis business; and IT Services and Software, a provider of business solutions for major airlines. Travelport also owns approximately 48 percent of Orbitz Worldwide.

The company has an ongoing annual revenue of approximately US$2.6 billion and operates in 145 countries with a workforce of 6,000 globally. [ [http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NYM09110092007-1.htm "Travelport appoints management team of its GDS business"] , "CNN", September 10, 2007. Accessed September 27, 2007.] It appears in the Fortune 500 and is number 133 in the Forbes list of private companies. [ [http://www.hoovers.com/travelport/--ID__152500--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml "Travelport Limited"] , "Hoovers.com", September 10, 2007. Accessed September 27, 2007.]

History

Travelport's predecessor, Travel Distribution Services (TDS), was founded in 2001 through the acquisition of Galileo International by TDS's parent, Cendant Corporation. Travelport was formed in August 2006, when Cendant sold Orbitz and Galileo to The Blackstone Group in a deal valued at $4.3 billion. The sale of Travelport followed the spin-offs of Cendant's real estate and hospitality businesses, Realogy Corporation and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, respectively, on July 31, 2006. Travelport is now owned by The Blackstone Group, Technology Crossover Ventures and One Equity Partners. [Sachdev, Ameet. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-147699028.html " Orbitz travels to 4th owner: Blackstone Group to buy from Cendant."] , "Chicago Tribune", July 1, 2006. Accessed September 15, 2007.] [Fineman, Josh. [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5zd1iiOoP5g&refer=home "Cendant to sell Orbitz to Blackstone for $4.3 Bln"] , "Bloomberg.com", June 30, 2006. Accessed September 15, 2007.] In April 2006, Cendant hired Jeff Clarke as president and CEO of Travel Distribution Services to lead the sale of the division. He is currently CEO, president and a member of the board of directors of Travelport and chairman of the board of Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.

In March 2007, Travelport's parent companies, Travelport Holdings Limited, paid a $1.1 billion dividend to its shareholders funded by a payment-in-kind (PIK) recapitalization of the company. The company later announced in May 2007 that it had filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell a portion of Orbitz Worldwide in an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO was priced on July 20, 2007, opening at $15.00 per share, and closed on July 25, 2007. A month later, Travelport acquired Worldspan for $1.4 billion on August 21, 2007, integrating it with Galileo.

On September 19, 2007, Travelport became the first travel company to receive a 100 percent rating on the annual Corporate Equality Index awarded by the American Human Rights Campaign Foundation. [Ferris, Bev. [http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1122499.php?mpnlog=1 "Travelport gets human rights accolade"] , "travelmole.com", September 19, 2007. Accessed September 27, 2007.]

Brands of Travelport

* Travelport GDS (includes Galileo and Worldspan)
* GTA
* Business Intelligence Services
* IT Services and Software
* Travelport UK Rail
* RailMaster
* OctopusTravel.com
* THOR
* Travel Bound

References

External links

* [http://www.travelport.com Travelport website]